Across the United States, gangs continue to infatuate our youth. Gangs can be anywhere. Our schools, streets, and prisons or juvenile halls are all strongholds of gang business and recruiting. Teachers are not being trained about these issues. Instead, they are trying to catch up to their student’s knowledge, and failing. Kids are being influenced to join gangs before they even make it to middle school. Parents are often out of the loop with the issue of gangs. A large amount of murders are known to involve gang members. Whether we address it or not, this is a problem that will make it harder for all our students to learn. We need to implement measures to prevent our kids from joining gangs in the first place. Background of the Problem Gangs …show more content…
These groups of people generally make money illegally in a variety of ways, including drugs, theft, robbery, gambling, prostitution, extortion, assassination, and even human trafficking. They may also sometimes be involved in white-collar crimes such as money-laundering. In the United States the four main types are street gangs, prison gangs, motorcycle gangs, and cartels. However, in the past few decades, there has been more of a cross-over between these groups. “A study released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported that 45 percent of high school students have… gang members on their campuses… Students in public schools are much more likely to experience gangs than those in private schools. Nearly half of public school students reported gangs at their school vs. only 2 percent of students at private schools… Girls and boys typically join gangs for the same reasons and are equally likely to engage in violent behaviors… 7.6 percent of males said they were members of a gang, compared to only 3.8 percent of female students. Although gangs can affect any ethnic group, Hispanic and black students are more likely to report gangs on campus”
Parents must be cooperative with their child as well into a specific resource center that dealt with indecisive mothers of raising their child(s) to help them suppress their child from joining gangs at an early age. Many parents are not aware of resource centers in their local area where they could seek an assistance and advice from someone expert (Social Worker or Psychologist) especially if their neighborhood is prone demographics of drugs, crimes, and some illegal substance. There are many kids that joined gangs because they are in a neighborhood prone to drugs and crimes where they could be influenced by it instantly by a flick of a finger. An article “What Schools Do to Help Prevent Gang – Joining” by Gary D. Gottfredson shows a statistics of students in certain cities percentage in joining gangs and not doing well at school. “Baltimore City 41%, Philadelphia 61%, and Albuquerque 49%.” Despite their value in reducing the general risk for problem behavior, school-based programs aid strategies are unlikely to reach youths who might be at greatest risk of joining gangs: those who have dropped out of school. Kids that are a drop out of schools are not getting much attention because some programs only focus or covered only those who are not yet involved in such case. It is mortifying to see that government has no action upon the situation. Gangs have a huge negative
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
Issue: “The number of youths joining gangs in the inner city has doubled, while the number of gang leaders serving time in prison and being released after good conduct has increased. The crime rate for gang violence has risen 20% from last year” (American Intercontinental University, 2015).
There are few known active members of street gangs attending district schools. The gang activity that is seen is that of ‘want-to-be’ gang members who are influenced by family members who are involved in street gang activity. Other ‘want-to-be’ members are often swayed by popular culture. Primarily, school administrators and district officials encounter smaller groups of students, anywhere from 3 to 10 students,from elementary to senior high, who band together and give the group a name. The group serves as a support system for members. These groups tend to be fluid and can disband as quickly as they formed. Most of these groups are benign and caused few difficulties. On occasion there have been groups that have caused greater disruption including violence, intimidation, and drug use. This has led to suspension and student transfer. When a student is identified as a street gang member or has shown signs of street gang influence the first intervention the district takes is to inform the parents of the individual, awareness is
Criminal activities and gangs have mostly always been an on going problem in the United States. Gangs and gang members are frequently involved with a variety of different crimes. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey reported that there are approximately 774,000 active gang members in the United States (Egley, Howell, & Moore, 2010). The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey also states that there are about 27,900 active gangs in the United States (Egley et al., 2010). The active gangs in California have caused a major impact on the state in many ways. According to the California Department of Justice, approximately 300,000 gang members are living in California (Crawford, 2009). California also attributes more than 25 percent of all homicides to gang activity (Crawford, 2009). This is a staggering huge amount. The rise of gang involvement and gang crime has led law enforcement to issue and enforce gang injunctions. However, these gang injunctions do not completely eliminate gang crime and they have no effect after one year of being issued. Also, gang injunctions interfere with the lives of normal people in society.
Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.
Gangs have been viewed as an issue in society by many people. The earliest signs of active gang activity were reported to be in the western civilization. Around the early 1600’s , more structured gangs began to appear.In 1783, U.S gang activity emerged. This not only affected adults, but many of the youth and communities surrounding these groups of people. Influence came from all over benefitting the advance of these structured alliances.
Marcus Hoover of Stanford University credits California as the origin of gangs in the article “Where All the Madness Began: A Look at Gang History” since it is the home of both the notorious Bloods and the opprobrious Crips. Hoover defined a gang member as this: “any person who actively participates in any gang with knowledge that its members engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and who willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang.” Research shows that the leading cause for gangs popularity and growth is the lack of a stable home system and a non-family presence. During the time of mobs, author Claire Sterling states; in her article “The Mafia Poses a New Threat to America” from Gangs: Opposing Viewpoints; teens and adults would find comfort in a group, which they believed had their best interest in mind. Gangs are not just in America, gangs operate all over the globe. Gangs know good and well exactly what they are doing. Although not all acts of certain individuals can be b...
In the 1920’s there was a study conducted by Fredric M. Thrasher. Thrasher studied 1,313 gangs in Chicago and revealed the issue of gangs. He considered the poor in poverty as the area increasing in gangs. This area was known as the “zone in transition” and was referred as in his studies. Thrasher has many law reinforcement and social workers helping him bring a stop to this madness. According to Thrashers studies “Important variables such as the age of gang members or the organizational features of the gangs were not related in a straightforward way to differences in the behavior of gangs” (Cummings 6). Thrasher has analyzed these gangs in many ways to the extent or romantic life in gangs. He helped us distinguish the difference in stereotype gangs and then the actual facts involving them.
What other theoretical elements--from theories we have already covered or other social considerations could explain the attraction to or resistance to gangs? Are there patterns and trends that might have theoretical significance?
Gangs have become a prevalent problem that influences different areas in society. A solution was suggested ...
The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang members from the problem’s core.
With the promise of a greater life by the gangs, the excited teens get attracted to the illegal activities of the mob (Bryman, 2008). Some of the teens are addicts of substances and they tend to believe that being in a gang will give them the freedom to continue using it. At home, the challenge can be bad since parents may not even have an idea of an addiction or ways of coping. Therefore, most teens are forced to join a mob because they have the desired freedom and access to the drugs. Some of the teens are pressured into joining a mob if their association will add to the mob’s criminal actions.
Statistics show that school-based programs as well as community-based prevention programs minimize gang involvement. School-based programs address substance abuse and violence, which reduces the risk factors for gang involvement. For example, in the article “What Can Schools Do to Prevent Gang Involvement,” by Gary D. Gottfredson, he states, “universal programs in kindergarten through secondary school, which [is a] rewarding educational environment im...
Gang violence is a major problem in our society today. If nothing is done soon, gang violence could take place in our neighborhoods. MW Klein, a gang researcher, says that gangs are an aggregation of youths who perceive themselves as distinct, and that are viewed as distinct by the community. Klein also states that the gangs call forth a consistently negative image of themselves through their actions (Klein). To those involved in gangs however, gang membership provided a youth means of attempting to consolidate their gender identities (Douglas). Most of the early American street gangs have historically been ethnically based. Early gangs were mainly Irish, Polish, or Italian (Klein).